Modi Demands Aptitude Test for All Students

While reviewing progress of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) at a high-level meeting on June 22, 2015 Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for aptitude tests for all students as well as a greater synergy and co-ordination between the ‘Digital India’ initiative and related programmes of the SSA.

He also stated that every school in India should plan its own targets, which it aims to achieve by 2022.

SSA is a flagship programme under the HRD Ministry which aims to achieve universalisation of elementary education in a time-bound and cost-effective manner.

According to a press release by the PMO,  ‘’The best teaching practices should be identified, and a repository of the same created, for wider dissemination and the basic data for all school teachers, such as Aadhaar numbers, email IDs and mobile numbers should be maintained in a database.’’

He also suggested Swachh Vidyalaya competitions among various schools for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani and senior officials from her Ministry, NITI Aayog, and PMO were present on the occasion.

The prestigious St. Stephen’s College, which earlier used to enroll students on the basis of personal interviews and cut-offs announced after the Class 12th boards, has also introduced an aptitude test of 30 minutes from the current academic session 2015-16.